I acree with what thinkbad said above.
I bought my speaker set (10years ago) from an independent speaker builder.When I saw a review of his new speaker set in a magazine,I knew I have to have them.The design was something special and the speakers also get a good word from the reviewer.
I think you also need to convince the customer somehow that you know what you are doing.This can be difficult at first until you get satisfied customers and the word starts spreading.
There are huge amount of speakers available in the market for every price range,so the competition is high.
Best regards and good luck
I bought my speaker set (10years ago) from an independent speaker builder.When I saw a review of his new speaker set in a magazine,I knew I have to have them.The design was something special and the speakers also get a good word from the reviewer.
I think you also need to convince the customer somehow that you know what you are doing.This can be difficult at first until you get satisfied customers and the word starts spreading.
There are huge amount of speakers available in the market for every price range,so the competition is high.
Best regards and good luck
wow, boatload of good advice. Is this something I want to grow into an empire? No. Do i need to think that way to survive? I don't think so, but i do agree that if your not growing as a company, your shrinking.
All I know, is if I seen a company from canada, who had a well, laid out website with simply ways to purchase, and the speakers looked kick ***, i would buy them. Also, have reviews, a gallery of customers setups, and yes, upgrades to the fostex really work well. visit www.omegaloudspekers.com, and check out the gallery. they use the fe206e in bookshelf enclosure too. it looks right up there with the avantgarde horns. Also, check out www.chipamp.com. This is what i invision intially, to offer customers.
Trevor Crowe
All I know, is if I seen a company from canada, who had a well, laid out website with simply ways to purchase, and the speakers looked kick ***, i would buy them. Also, have reviews, a gallery of customers setups, and yes, upgrades to the fostex really work well. visit www.omegaloudspekers.com, and check out the gallery. they use the fe206e in bookshelf enclosure too. it looks right up there with the avantgarde horns. Also, check out www.chipamp.com. This is what i invision intially, to offer customers.
Trevor Crowe
"1.Do you think theirs a demand for another speaker company?
2. Does the speaker/enclosure sound like a good start?
3. Are they're any concerns regarding copy rights, patents or design rights?
4. Does an actual company name have an increased 'perceived value'?
5. What would you like to see in a new speaker company?
Trevor Crowe"
take advice from other industry manufacturers (ie N Pass)
they know their Market and manufacture accordingly
cheers
2. Does the speaker/enclosure sound like a good start?
3. Are they're any concerns regarding copy rights, patents or design rights?
4. Does an actual company name have an increased 'perceived value'?
5. What would you like to see in a new speaker company?
Trevor Crowe"
take advice from other industry manufacturers (ie N Pass)
they know their Market and manufacture accordingly
cheers
Things to keep in mind......
Only 1 company in 20 will make it. Half will fail because of not enough $$$, the other nine.......mostly because of bad ideas from the start.
Try to imagine how much money it will take to get going, and over-estimate. Round that number up to the next biggest "big" number, and double it. And then you still won't have enough.
You need to have a good story to tell. Why "XYZ Speakers". Something that will get them thinking "Gee, I need some of them........."
If it "looks" ordinary, most people will perceive it to sound ordinary.
And be prepared to run into more than your share of thieves, weasels, liars, and scumbags. I do not think that audio has more than its share of them, it just seems that way.
Try not to source proprietary parts. All it will take is one supplier to run a backlog, and shut you down.
And yes, you know the numero uno thing not to do, so keep that day job!
Jocko
Only 1 company in 20 will make it. Half will fail because of not enough $$$, the other nine.......mostly because of bad ideas from the start.
Try to imagine how much money it will take to get going, and over-estimate. Round that number up to the next biggest "big" number, and double it. And then you still won't have enough.
You need to have a good story to tell. Why "XYZ Speakers". Something that will get them thinking "Gee, I need some of them........."
If it "looks" ordinary, most people will perceive it to sound ordinary.
And be prepared to run into more than your share of thieves, weasels, liars, and scumbags. I do not think that audio has more than its share of them, it just seems that way.
Try not to source proprietary parts. All it will take is one supplier to run a backlog, and shut you down.
And yes, you know the numero uno thing not to do, so keep that day job!
Jocko
FWIW, Omega used the FE207E in the possibly discontinued Omega 8. I figured I'd mention it as the 207 is a much better match for a BR cabinet than the 206.
See:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=1391&highlight=207
and
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=18271&start=20
Paul
See:
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=1391&highlight=207
and
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=18271&start=20
Paul
There are several successful "part-time" speaker builders. The one thing they seem to have in common is internet-direct sales. It really cuts your overhead and out-of-pocket expenses so more of the sales price ends up in your pocket. You can just keep a small inventory of parts and build enclosures as needed. Attending the various DIY gatherings is a good way to get the word out on the net about your speakers.
BTW: your proposed cabinet size is very close to one of the stock cabinets from Parts Express. A DIYer would have a hard time matching the quality of finish on those cabinets, especially the piano black one and, being built overseas, they are very reasonbly priced.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=208&raid=12&rak=Cabinets
BTW: your proposed cabinet size is very close to one of the stock cabinets from Parts Express. A DIYer would have a hard time matching the quality of finish on those cabinets, especially the piano black one and, being built overseas, they are very reasonbly priced.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=208&raid=12&rak=Cabinets
catapult said:
This is a very valid point, and i wouldn't consider any other business model.
Pretty & cheap, but i wouldn't attach the word quality to these. I've seen and heard the 7 litre PE box & i can tell you that the 1/2" plywood 18 litre Tangent TM-3 boxes i'm currently using as a mule are more inert even with the disadvantage of the larger panels inherent in the bigger box(neither have any internal bracing).
A part-time speaker builder probably shouldn't rely on cheap as a sales tool. Certainly the direct-to-customer model removes a distributors & part of the dealer margins so end users pay less for a comparable product, but cheaping out -- IMHO -- is not a good strategy.
dave
Since shipping is a major concern, as you indicate in the original post, why not start local?
Try to sell several locally (locally means you can deliver yourself) and get the word out there about them.
Leverage or somesuch (can't think of the business term, horizontal maybe?) -- let carpenters, kitchen installers, rug cleaners, whatever know about them -- not to sell to them, but to leverage their customer base. You never know if one of there customers might be interested too -- they might mention something in passing to them and they say I know a great company...
Word of mouth -- can't beat it even in this global web age.
Ah well, I rambled. Disclaimer -- sounds reasonable but I never tried it myself.
Try to sell several locally (locally means you can deliver yourself) and get the word out there about them.
Leverage or somesuch (can't think of the business term, horizontal maybe?) -- let carpenters, kitchen installers, rug cleaners, whatever know about them -- not to sell to them, but to leverage their customer base. You never know if one of there customers might be interested too -- they might mention something in passing to them and they say I know a great company...
Word of mouth -- can't beat it even in this global web age.
Ah well, I rambled. Disclaimer -- sounds reasonable but I never tried it myself.
Trevor,
Reading through this thread, I'm glad to see others echoing the fact that you start off part-time. If you haven't already, go find a copy of "The Bootstrapper's Bible" (might be a $5 PDF purchase from Amazon). It's an inspiring read for folks like us.
During my quick read, I didn't see any advice on this thread suggesting that you just go ahead and do it. The only way you'll learn is to fail. The only way you'll ever get to fail is if you try.
When I started working on FuzzMeasure, I got repeated comments about how nobody would need my software, and it'd only be a niche market (well, duh!) and I wouldn't get many sales. If I didn't go ahead and go for it, working on software that interests me, I wouldn't get to where I am now.
In the year or so since I started this venture, I managed to get a nod from Apple in this year's Design Awards, and had my software featured on the Apple Downloads site. I don't have a huge customer base, but I do have a very devoted following of customers. I don't have nearly enough sales to do this full-time yet, but in terms of my industry ("shareware", I guess) I'm really rocking along.
Now, when entering an industry where so many other products and companies exist, you'll have to do your best to differentiate yourself from the competition. As a small business, the easiest thing you can beat big companies at is providing high-quality support. Take advantage of this fact, and make sure to let your customers know this at every opportunity.
For selling speakers, I'd suggest offering your customers help by giving advice on speaker placement or home wiring, for example. Give them an email address with no limits on their questions, and respond to every single one of them.
Even if you answer "turn up the volume" to 100 questions asking "why are my speakers so quiet?", those 100 customers will be much happier for getting help from a human. Unfortunately, support's hard in the initial stages when you're also trying to design, develop, build, and ship your product.
And finally, make sure to become an all-Mac shop, and use FuzzMeasure in all your product developments.
Chris
Reading through this thread, I'm glad to see others echoing the fact that you start off part-time. If you haven't already, go find a copy of "The Bootstrapper's Bible" (might be a $5 PDF purchase from Amazon). It's an inspiring read for folks like us.
During my quick read, I didn't see any advice on this thread suggesting that you just go ahead and do it. The only way you'll learn is to fail. The only way you'll ever get to fail is if you try.
When I started working on FuzzMeasure, I got repeated comments about how nobody would need my software, and it'd only be a niche market (well, duh!) and I wouldn't get many sales. If I didn't go ahead and go for it, working on software that interests me, I wouldn't get to where I am now.
In the year or so since I started this venture, I managed to get a nod from Apple in this year's Design Awards, and had my software featured on the Apple Downloads site. I don't have a huge customer base, but I do have a very devoted following of customers. I don't have nearly enough sales to do this full-time yet, but in terms of my industry ("shareware", I guess) I'm really rocking along.
Now, when entering an industry where so many other products and companies exist, you'll have to do your best to differentiate yourself from the competition. As a small business, the easiest thing you can beat big companies at is providing high-quality support. Take advantage of this fact, and make sure to let your customers know this at every opportunity.
For selling speakers, I'd suggest offering your customers help by giving advice on speaker placement or home wiring, for example. Give them an email address with no limits on their questions, and respond to every single one of them.
Even if you answer "turn up the volume" to 100 questions asking "why are my speakers so quiet?", those 100 customers will be much happier for getting help from a human. Unfortunately, support's hard in the initial stages when you're also trying to design, develop, build, and ship your product.
And finally, make sure to become an all-Mac shop, and use FuzzMeasure in all your product developments.
Chris
planet10 said:
Errrrr..... unbraced 1/2" plywood is more inert than braced 3/4" and 1" MDF? Okay......
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Bravo CrisTUFR! 
Sometimes you just have to go for it.
I've seen a lot of great ideas not even "taxi to the runway" because the people talked themselves out of it, worrying about this or that or overplanning.
Easiest way to start this type of venture is an extension of a hobby - you know your product, you have resources (us and more), supply (no shortage here either), so that leaves making the sale. We can help with that too. If you got something great, I'll put a link to you. My site gets 12,000 hits/day (about 900 of those are unique) traffic.
Some folks are born salesmen, others couldn't sell a life preserver to a drowning man. This is where word of mouth comes it - your customers do the selling, you just make the stuff
Sometimes you just have to go for it.
I've seen a lot of great ideas not even "taxi to the runway" because the people talked themselves out of it, worrying about this or that or overplanning.
Easiest way to start this type of venture is an extension of a hobby - you know your product, you have resources (us and more), supply (no shortage here either), so that leaves making the sale. We can help with that too. If you got something great, I'll put a link to you. My site gets 12,000 hits/day (about 900 of those are unique) traffic.
Some folks are born salesmen, others couldn't sell a life preserver to a drowning man. This is where word of mouth comes it - your customers do the selling, you just make the stuff
CrisTUFR said:
I guess i represented the other end of the spectrum
He has a very valid point. Over the long run Macs cost your business less -- i can't remeber how many times i've had customers, friends or people i coorespond with say -- my machie crashed, i lost all my email. Never happened to me. Only ever happened to one of my clients (and even then i was able to get the info out of his email -- the problem was really his mail browser, nit his iMac). Imagine being in an internet business and losing all your email...
As well Chris' software -- even in its current early incarnations -- embarrasses anything else i've seen. Not only technically and in ease of use, but also in the powers of its presentation capabilities.
I just redid the CSS FR/WR data sheets & the Adire Extremis. The charts provided (from Praxis or Clio i think) were god aweful from a presentation point of view. The biggest part of the job was making them presentable (and now there is a bit of FuzzMeasure in each one).
With Fuzzmeasure i easily generate better material with almost zero effort (chris still has too many clipping paths, but compared to the other stuff out there, that is a pretty little nit -- and most of you won't even know what i'm talking about or have any idea why it could be a problem)
If that reads like a testimonial it is... i don't know how i got along before Fussmeasure -- it has made possible whole new aspects of my business.
dave
catapult said:
I was under the impression the 7 litre PE box was unbraced -- this is what i was told when i asked someone using one (i've never seen the inside). And yes, the Tangent TM-3 mules i have with WR125s in them are more inert than the 7 litre PE boxes Al & Bob were using with the same driver. And the 1/2" ply miniOs for the FR125 are way more inert (they have significant bracing).
dave
Member
Joined 2004
Those "universal" Dayton cabinets look the biz. That´s a product dyiers demand. Every speaker kit provides everything but cabinets, but not everyone has the place, tools or skills to build them. Also a pre-drilled to order service would be welcome.
Besides, the boxes aren´t ported of course.
Don´t you get that "been there, done that" impression every time a new speaker company presents a two-way bass reflex design?
IMO infinite baflles sound more natural, faster and than one-bass-note-samba ported designs. And would integrate better with subs.
It´s nothing new, but given the current fashion it would look refreshing.
Is there any other company besides NHT?...
This is what I believe could be a safe bet for a new manufacturer.
My 2c. Good luck.
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